Important: Trustbond has closed down and is no longer available for sale. No further claims will be processed.

THE ALTERNATIVE TOTRADITIONAL RENTAL BONDS

Welcome to Trustbond

Trustbond is a surety bond certificate that replaces the traditional cash rental bond, making renting easier for tenants, agents and landlords. Trustbond is underwritten by an insurance brand you know and trust.

Traditional rental bonds are medieval and inefficient. Freezing people's cash in advance for anything that could go wrong is a matter of distrust. Frozen cash also creates misaligned incentives (win-lose) and makes claiming difficult.

We believe in a more efficient world, where trustworthy tenants can pay a fee to protect their landlord. Tenants benefit from cash-flow and are free to use their money for the things that really matter.

Landlords and agents have the same level of protection as a cash bond, and further benefit from:

Fast claims, without needing to go to the tribunal

Enhanced screening of a tenant’s online reputation

Better behaved tenants who will be incentivized to protect their TrustScore

Filling listing faster because Trustbond means less outlay for tenants

Trustbond prevents bad behavior because a tenant’s reputation (TrustScore) is tied to the transaction. This trust mechanism reduces bad behavior and increases trust between strangers. There are many examples where this has been proven, including, eBay, AirBnb and Uber. We believe that injecting trust into long term renting will transform the market.

You can claim directly from Trustbond at the end of a tenancy by submitting a proof of loss, without needing to go to the rental tribunal. We aim to settle claims within 3 days.

We designed our claims process based on feedback from agents and their experience with bond claims today. Our process is fast and simple.

You should still go to the tribunal or relevant bodies for all other rental matters outside of the Trustbond (including ending the lease). We will adhere to any decisions made by tribunals if relevant to the bond, and they can serve as a proof of loss. Any amounts above the Trustbond should be claimed in the normal way (e.g. landlord insurance).

We can recover monies paid in a claim from the tenant. However, we will only recover if there was bad faith or intentional acts. We will not recover in financial hardship or accidents. Which is not something tenants can rely on with cash bonds today. If a tenant has a claim from bad faith, there TrustScore will go down and we may not offer them the product again.

All new lease and renewal agreements should contain a paragraph which is in substantially the same form as the following: Before the start date of this lease, or 28 days before renewal of this lease, you must provide to the landlord or agent (as applicable) either: (a) a bond in the amount of $[insert amount of bond]; or (b) a Trustbond in the amount of $[insert same amount as bond], which covers the term of this lease, or renewal.

You can become an official partner of Trustbond, by registering here or talking to us on help@trustbond.com. Please note Trustbond is not currently available for sale in Australia.